Fledgling Hero
by anonymouseling
Summary: Sophie never once expected to get her life tangled up with the famed heroes of Paris and their civilian halves, but when someone is quiet and attentive to those around them, they're bound to pick up a few things...whether they want to or not. [AU canon divergent, canon ships & mentions of LGBT content.]


**Author's Note: **

there will be very very little focus on romance, no ocxcanon shipping, and there'll be trans/sexuality headcanons sprinkled in this fic occasionally. if you're transphobic or homophobic, i'll shank you. first chapter takes place between princess fragrance and animan, probably will be adapting season 2 when i get to it but will almost completely disregard season 3 for a number of reasons.

let me know what you think of sophie, this fic and everything else. no clue when the next chapter will be up, bc my writing inspiration is a fickle being and i needed to get this out there somewhere and im too much of a coward to post this to my ao3 lmao. w/e on w the fic!

* * *

Moving across the country was a _terrifying_ experience in Sophie's personal opinion. It wasn't quite at the level of moving countries, but it was close enough to make her extremely uncomfortable. But there were worse places her family could have moved to she supposed, Paris was a wonderful city for many reasons.

Too bad about all the supervillains though.

It was actually partially due to the villains that stirred up trouble in Paris that caused their family to move, what with people resigning in Paris to move away from the crazy. It just meant there were more job opportunities for those who didn't mind braving it to live there. People like Sophie's parents who decided that they didn't mind and moved them from their comfortable city house in Limoges to a somewhat downgraded apartment in Paris.

Sophie wasn't all that broken up about saying goodbye to what little connections she had managed to form in Limoges over the last four years they lived there. She never completely bonded with her friends outside of school, the most that they interacted was in classes and during lunch breaks, going their separate ways during the weekends and after school.

What really worried her was that she was going to have to make _new_ friends. Which was going to be a nearly insurmountable challenge considering the massive social anxiety she faced when even speaking to new people. Sure she was a pretty independent person considering her parents worked nearly twenty four seven and travelled nearly every other week, but she needed someone other than her little sister to talk to sometimes otherwise she'd go insane.

So, as with every time her family moved, she started a new school.

It was pretty nice looking if she was honest, it didn't seem as big as her last collége but that would probably be a good thing. There was even a boulangerie almost next door if she wanted something convenient for lunch, and a nice park next to that to eat in.

Walking into the school for her first day, she managed to sneak by with only a few stares that made her movements stiff as she hid her lower face in her always present dark pastel blue scarf. Just as she planned, she managed to reach the teacher's lounge just as the bell for class went.

"Ah, the older Ms Bennett, I presume?" A kind looking woman with red hair asked as she stepped out of the room.

"Um, yeah, that's me." Sophie nodded shyly, silently remarking that her sister Caitlyn probably had an easier time. They had decided to go separately, considering that Caitlyn had wanted to scope out the school to get around easier and Sophie had wanted to get there with as minimal interactions with strangers as she could. Not to mention the fact that Caitlyn was consistently a people person, someone who easily dealt with new social situations.

"Wonderful, I'm Ms Bustier and I'll be your teacher for your time here at Francoise Dupont. Shall we head to class?" She smiled, turning to lead Sophie towards the classroom when she nodded in reply.

"If you'll just wait here a second and I'll make an announcement to the class." She smiled when they reached the classroom, Sophie couldn't find her voice only managing to nod in time for the teacher to turn away.

If she'd been left alone for long enough, Sophie would have started to freak out with the inevitable 'absolutely everyone in the class will be staring and judging you' moment, but at it turned out Ms Bustier only really left Sophie with enough time to run her fingers through her fringe, adjust her beanie, make sure her waist long brown hair was still in it's neat french plaits and readjust how her glasses sat on her face.

"Come in!" She called, and Sophie nervously entered the room, determinedly keeping her head down until she stood next to Ms Bustier. Timidly she looked up at her class.

They were obviously all staring at her but immediately Sophie identified at least one person she'd want to stay as far away as possible from, the blond in the front row who seemed to be sneering at her. The majority though either looked indifferent to the newcomer or friendly.

"This is Sophie Bennett, our new student. I hope you'll all give her your most warmest of welcomes." Ms Bustier continued cheerfully before turning to Sophie. "Do you want to say a little something to the class before we get started, Sophie?"

Sophie couldn't help but stare at Ms Bustier with something akin to horror barely hidden in her expression. Her throat was already tight with anxiety just _standing _there, she'd never manage to get even a single word out, let alone enough to fill a sentence.

"Though we are running a little late...Actually it's probably best that you go find a seat so that we can get started on the lesson." She smiled kindly at her before moving to stand behind the front desk.

For a moment, Sophie was left standing alone at the front of the classroom before Ms Bustier started roll call. Sophie took a breath and made her way up the stairs determinedly heading for the back seat. Unfortunately there wasn't a desk without a desk partner but she had the choice between a large intimidating looking guy and a fellow shy guy awkwardly doodling. She chose the shy guy.

There were a few determinedly curious heads that followed her movements but by the time that she dumped her backpack on the floor next to her, no one was paying attention to her. Her desk partner thankfully not springing any conversation on her either.

She took the opportunity to take a deep breath and relax. So far she hadn't done anything horrifically embarrassing, though she knew it was probably only a matter of time. Her luck was decent but almost anytime she relaxed in an unfamiliar environment something always went wrong, unfortunately that meant it took even longer for her to be relaxed in any new space.

Classes started to pass in a blur.

During the break between them, a few students looked back at her obviously considering going over to talk to her but in the end they decided not to. Whether that was due to her obvious distress at the attention or not, she had no idea, but she was thankful for it. If she could make it through the day without garnering too much attention she might even be able to say hello to her deskmate in the very least.

When lunch let out, Sophie tried to take a little while to pack up so that she could miss the rush for the exit. Although it was obviously a poor choice due to the two girls stood right in front of her.

"Hi! Welcome to Françoise Dupont! I'm Marinette, class representative, nice to meet you." The one with dark hair in ponytails cheerfully greeted her.

There was some sort of weird pressure coming from the two girls that Sophie had never felt before. It was almost like what she'd say those superstitions of auras would feel like if they existed. It was heavy, and strange. Couple that with the fact that most human interaction of any kind freaked her out, Sophie knew she wouldn't be able to speak more than a few words to them.

"H-hi…" She stuttered, burying her face into the scarf as she sheepishly held up a hand in a wave.

"I'm Alya, class deputy. Mind giving us an interview I can put on the school blog? Let us know your thoughts on everything so far?" The other one asked, holding up her phone with an excited expression.

"U-um. I— Um, have to— Lunch...uh sister—" Sophie haltingly tried to speak as she finally finished packing her bag, she slid out of her seat. "Um, sorry." She finally managed practically _bolting_ it out of the room, away from the attention. Her cheeks burning scarlet as she heard the mocking laugh of the blond and her friend from the front row that she'd learned were called Chloé and Sabrina.

_Great. _Just _brilliant_. Already she'd thoroughly embarrassed herself in her very first conversation with some of her classmates. There had even been a few others that lingered to see the scene which was so embarrassing.

She honestly half considered hiding in her locker writhing in embarrassment until the school day ended. But then Caitlyn would find her only fifteen minutes later after knocking on every locker in the locker room. Then Sophie would be subjected to the 'little sister is disappointed' stare, which was so powerful that she actively avoided _anything_ that could cause it.

Sophie settled for burying her face in her scarf and marching over to the corner of the courtyard where she saw Caitlyn sat on a bench. The girl in question was looking down at her phone, probably reading over information about the new ballet class she would attend after school.

"How's your day been so far, Cait?" Sophie asked as she approached, pulling her backpack off and reaching for her packed lunch.

"Oh, hey, Phie. It's good! I think I've made a few friends already, everyone's really friendly which is good! A bunch of people kept trying to warn me about akumas, one even gave me a leaflet about it." Caitlyn reported pulling the leaflet out of her messenger bag and passing it to Sophie who took it to inspect as she bit into her sandwich.

"I wasn't too worried about it until my new friend Ava told me that this school is actually one of the most common targets along with a bunch of other landmarks. Not to mention that nearly 40% of the school have been akumatized before."

Sophie cringed. "Of course Mum and Dad would put us in the one school most targeted. Just our luck, right?" She joked with a roll of her eyes. Their parents probably meant well and just forgot to check about all the akuma stuff, it _was_ the closest and best collége…

"I know, but honestly I prefer it over going to that other collége. At least we don't have uniforms…" Caitlyn shrugged before digging into her pasta salad.

Sophie however wasn't that put off by the idea of uniforms. Her attire was mostly comfortable clothing that didn't bring attention to herself, however, she probably wouldn't get away with wearing a scarf through lessons if they had a dress code. While the scarf itself didn't have any sentimental value, she loved how it gave her the opportunity to bury her face in it, hence why she had about thirty different ones.

"Is it your turn to cook tonight or mine?" Sophie asked, thinking over what they had in terms of groceries or whether she needed to make a detour after school.

"Yours. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are your turn remember? Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays are mine."

"And Sundays are takeaway nights." Sophie replied, thankful that they went back to that old schedule.

It probably wasn't a healthy thing for a fourteen year old and an eleven year old to have a rotating schedule of who cooks dinner rather than their parents, but with their mum being one of the best surgeons in the country and their dad a lead scientist focused on his medical research...they were often too busy to sit down for family meals.

While it would make for a lonely childhood, Sophie saw her parents often enough to not feel neglected. It also helped that her and Caitlyn were naturally independent people, so things like chores and dinner were divvied between them with their parents helping when they got the chance. Not to mention that she had her sister if things got too lonely, or if she needed to hear her parents voice she'd just call them and they'd answer 85% of the time or get back to her quickly.

"How's things going for you?" Caitlyn asked, focusing her full attention on her sister. "Teacher didn't make you introduce yourself to the class did she?"

Sophie wasn't _as_ excited to talk about her freak out before she ran here, but it was inevitable. "She introduced me herself, and started to ask me to say something to the class but realised that would be a bad idea by the way I froze up. The guy I sit next to in class is pretty quiet though, so maybe I'll try and befriend him."

"No one's interested in the new girl? My class practically swarmed me during the breaks between lessons."

"During class I think most of them picked up on how shy and awkward I am, so they just left me alone for the most part." She replied easily enough before wincing slightly. "Although two girls did approach me at the start of lunch but I, uh, sort of panicked and ran away to meet you."

Caitlyn gave her a sympathetic smile. "Yeah, I figured you did something like that. You said there's a shy person like you? Start by passing them notes in class. That way you don't have to power through awkward stammering or avoiding eye contact!"

Sophie considered it. Maybe...They did sit at the back which meant that passing notes was least likely to be detected so she'd avoid being called out in front of everyone...She just had to think up a conversation starter, but she would make that her goal to start on before the end of the week.

"Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks Cait."

From there, their conversation evolved to what Caitlyn was hoping her ballet class was going to be like, along with the recitals they'd inevitably get round to. Dance was something that Caitlyn had always loved, all styles but none more so than ballet. She'd been doing it for the last six years, and had dreams of sticking with it for a career. Sophie and their parents were highly supportive and avid encouragers.

Sophie wasn't exactly _excited_ to head back to class, especially considering it would be chemistry meaning a move in classroom and presumably desks. As she entered the classroom, she buried her face in her scarf fighting her own embarrassment as the mean girls Chloé and Sabrina laughed at her. A quick glance at the friendly girls saw that the one called Alya was glaring at Chloé whereas Marinette gave her a gentle smile. Hopefully that they wouldn't hold her freak out against her…

Thankfully, it seemed that the seating layout was the same as her previous classes so she found her seat next to the shy boy, giving him a nervous smile which was returned in a similar manner.

Ms Mendeleiv was utterly terrifying. While a good teacher who was incredibly thorough, she demanded that her students go at a fast pace in writing down notes and working through questions and assignments. It made for a hectic class, and Sophie being too frazzled by keeping up to really worry about trying to properly integrate herself into the class.

She saw the sweet blonde girl called Rose get told off for staring into space, and the large intimidating boy in front of them called Ivan get told off for his bag falling into the aisle. After that, Sophie kept her backpack on her lap and her attention solely on the teacher and her lesson, not daring to space out even slightly.

The rest of the day passed without much event. Her classmates did little to interact with her other than a friendly smile or wave as she slowly learned their names through overhearing conversations and the teachers calling on them. The class's curriculum nicely lined up with her previous one that she was barely behind on any of the material, which helped her in getting her bearings together.

It wasn't until she arrived at the small supermarket did anything go wrong.

_**BOOM**_

The ground shook with the noise, Sophie whipped her head around to see the large fireball that had engulfed a car and made it explode. Parisians running away from the explosion with the background track of maniacal laughter. Sophie could only stand there wide eyed as she stared at the...bizarre and horrifying sight.

The...she could only guess that it was an akuma, but the person in question was tall and very muscular. Their outfit that seemed very reminiscent of American 90s branding, but twice as ugly. However, the fact that when he pointed at something he created large fireballs..._that_ was terrifying.

A red figure swung in, dodging a fireball or two, and landing a harsh kick to the Akuma sending them flying against the building.

This would be where Sophie should run to safety or for cover, but instead she just stood there staring at the event unfolding in front of her paralyzed. It was sight that was familiar only when it was viewed through footage, that it felt otherworldly watching it play out in real life.

It wasn't until the akuma's gaze snapped to her frozen form did Sophie really feel the panic that had numbed her body. But it was too late, the fireball was coming too fast and her joints were still locked up. She only had enough time to remark on how it was just her luck she didn't even survive her first full day in Paris before getting killed—

Her breath was knocked out of her as she was picked up expertly and pulled out of the way. As her body registered someone had grabbed her, she wrapped her arms around their neck and held on tightly, fighting down the scream of panic that shot through her when they jumped high.

"You should be more careful, Mademoiselle." A vaguely familiar voice cautioned her. "It's not safe to be around akuma battles."

Sophie pulled back enough to look up and recognise that it was the famed hero _Chat Noir_ who held her to his chest. She _almost_ yelped in shock, but managed to turn it into a faint squeak just in time. "I— I'm sorry. I—" She apologised.

His expression softened as they slowed to a stop on a rooftop veranda. "It's okay. It's pretty scary if you're not used to it. New in town?"

Hesitantly Sophie nodded. "Yeah, um, my family just moved here...I knew about the akumas but different seeing it in person…" Her voice was quiet and wavered ever so slightly, but if she didn't make eye contact then she found she could still talk to one half of the Parisian duo.

Chat put her down carefully. "Well, you should be safe here for the mean time. I'll come back and get you after the battle's over if you want?"

"Um, please, if it's not too much trouble. I...still don't really know my way around." Sophie hesitantly accepted. "Th-thank you for saving me, Chat Noir."

"My pleasure, mademoiselle." He bowed before extending his baton and heading back towards the sounds of explosions.

For a minute or two Sophie stood there trying to rid herself of her panic before she realised that she should try to and find some news covering of the battle to know when Chat would come back to pick her up.

After a quick google search, she was surprised to find a blog that was actually started by one of the nice girls who approached her, the blog covering the fight while Alya commentated on it. It was slightly less professional than the official news clips that Sophie caught when she was back in Limoges, but it added a certain charm to it. Not to mention Alya's commentary was entertaining.

She stood there for twenty minutes waiting until her attention was drawn away from her phone by the breathtaking sight of pink light weaving through Paris, restoring everything that it touched. Listening while Alya still spoke.

"_And there we go folks, Ladybug saves Paris yet again with another beautiful Miraculous Ladybug. Let's go see if I can snag a quick interview before the two get away!"_

She watched with some amusement seeing Alya run up to the duo just in time for Ladybug to make a break for it before she got in more than "Good job out there!". At least Chat stuck around to politely thank Alya for her support before excusing himself. Alya was frustrated but quickly recovered and signed off.

Sophie nearly jumped out of her skin at the way Chat landed on the veranda just as she locked her phone.

"Black cat transportation at your service, Mademoiselle." He bowed his head again with a lighthearted smirk.

"G-good job...with the, uh, fireball guy. Th-thanks again…"

"Thank you! It's all in a days work though, wasn't all that bad today." Chat easily replied, holding his arms out. "Same as last time? Or would you rather another way?"

Sophie fought the blush, but sheepishly muttered out "whichever's easiest" before Chat shrugged and picked her up bridal style. This time she didn't squeak in surprise but she did have to tightly wrap her arms around his neck.

"So, I didn't cat-ch your name, Mademoiselle."

"Oh— I'm, uh, I'm Sophie."

"How're you liking Paris so far?"

"It's— It's nice. Pretty." She replied, half wanting to confide in him that she was having trouble branching out and making new friends, but half respecting that he was a superhero which meant it wasn't his job to care about that and was just making conversation.

"It is, I'd suggest checking out the gardens and parks if you want more pretty sights. Though, remember to be careful if an akuma pops up." Chat chuckled lightly as they approached where he had scooped her up from. "And here we are, safe and sound."

"Th-thanks again." Sophie smiled as she was put down, now standing straight she realised that she was just a bit taller than him.

"You thank me too much." Chat grinned. "It's a nice change of place but as I've said before, it was my pleasure. Make sure you get home safe, okay?"

"Y-yeah, I will do. Um, you too?"

He nodded gratefully before vaulting away with his baton above the rooftops and disappearing from sight, presumably scampering off to wherever he was before the fireball guy appeared.

Sophie was so distracted that she started to walk back home, and only realised five minutes later that she still had to go shopping. Cursing herself, she doubled back around to get her shopping.


End file.
